Context sensitive message notifications

ABSTRACT

A method and device for generating message notifications at a mobile device is provided. A current operating context of the mobile device is determined. A first display representation for the received message in accordance with notification display settings associated with the determined current operating context is determined. Gesture information from a touch input component is determined and a second display representation comprising at least a portion of the received message and an action area for performing a direct action in response to the received message in response to the determined gesture information is generated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The current description relates to systems, devices and methods forgenerating message notifications and in particular to generating messageat a mobile device based upon an operating context.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, allow users to sendand receive messages with others. When messages are received at themobile device, a notification may be presented to indicate to the userthat a message has been received. The notification may present at leasta portion of the message to the user. Messages can be presented to theuser in graphical representation to notify them of events such as newmessages, missed phone calls, status updates, etc., typically in apop-up or notification center requiring the user to enter the associatedapplication to respond to the notification.

While it can be advantageous to receive notifications of messages on amobile device it may be desirable to provide additional, alternativeand/or improved functionality for presenting notifications on the mobiledevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in combinationwith the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts displaying an actionable notification on a mobile device;

FIG. 2 depicts the process for generating message notifications at acomputing device for messages received at a mobile device;

FIG. 3 depicts interacting with a display representation of a messageindicator received from a mobile device;

FIGS. 4A to 4C depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIG. 5A to 5C depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIG. 6A to 6C depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIGS. 7A and 7B depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIG. 8A to 8C depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIG. 9A to 9C depicts interacting with a display representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device;

FIG. 10 depicts processing notifications received from a mobile devicefor display;

FIG. 11 depicts processing notifications received from a mobile devicefor display;

FIG. 12 further depicts processing notifications received from a mobiledevice for display;

FIG. 13 further depicts processing notifications received from a mobiledevice for display;

FIG. 14A to 14C depicts processing notifications received at a mobiledevice;

FIG. 15A to 15B depicts processing notifications received at a mobiledevice;

FIG. 16 depicts displaying a notification representation based on anoperating context of a mobile device

FIG. 17 depicts a system for generating display representations ofnotifications received by a mobile device;

FIG. 18 depicts a method for generating message notifications at acomputing device;

FIG. 19 depicts a further method for generating message notifications ata computing device; and

FIG. 20 depicts a further method for generating message notifications ona mobile device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the present disclosure there is provided a method forgenerating message notifications at a mobile device, the methodcomprising determining a current operating context of the mobile device;generating a first notification representation for a message inaccordance with notification display settings associated with thedetermined current operating context; determining gesture informationfrom a touch input component; and generating a second notificationrepresentation comprising at least a portion of the message and anaction area for performing a direct action associated with the messagein response to the determined gesture information.

In accordance with the present disclosure there is further provided amobile device comprising a processor; and a memory coupled to theprocessor comprising instructions for generating message notificationsat a mobile device comprising: determining a current operating contextof the mobile device; generating a first notification representation fora message in accordance with notification display settings associatedwith the determined current operating context; determining gestureinformation from a touch input component; and generating a secondnotification representation comprising at least a portion of the messageand an action area for performing a direct action associated with themessage in response to the determined gesture information.

Embodiments are described below, by way of example only, with referenceto FIGS. 1-20. Mobile devices, such as mobile phones, smartphone andtablets, can receive messages from numerous channels such as one or moree-mail accounts, instant messaging applications, short message service(SMS) text messaging applications, as well push notificationapplications such as stock price applications and sports scoresapplications. The mobile device can notify a user when a new message isreceived from one of the communication or messaging channels. Asdescribed further herein, the notification displayed on the mobiledevice may include functionality for facilitating taking an action, suchas responding to a message, directly from the notification reducingprocessing requirements on the device and the number of user actions torespond to the notification. As further described herein, a notificationof a message received at the mobile device may be displayed on a seconddevice in communication with the mobile device. Control of thenotification displayed on the second device may be provided to reduce anintrusiveness of notifications while still providing meaningnotifications as well as notifications with direct actions.

FIG. 1 depicts displaying an actionable notification on a mobile device.The mobile device 102 is depicted as a mobile phone although othermobile devices that are capable of sending and receiving messages arecontemplated as well. The mobile device 102 comprises a display 104 fordisplaying a user interface. The display 104 may be a touch sensitivedisplay providing an input component for the mobile device. A user ofthe mobile device 102 may have one or more applications on the mobiledevice for receiving messages from different channels. For example, auser may have a number of e-mail accounts setup to receive messages onthe mobile device. Additional communication channels may include socialmedia applications such as Twitter®, Facebook® and LinkedIn®. Furthercommunication channels may include instant messaging applications suchas Blackberry Messenger BBM®, Skype® Windows Live Messenger® and others.Further communication channels may include applications on the mobiledevice 102 that receive pushed messages from remote sources such asapplications that push sports scores, news, stock prices or otheralerts. Typically, it is possible to specify a notification to be usedfor informing the user of a new message. For example, a user may selectan alert tone or sound to notify the user of a new e-mail. It is oftenpossible to customize the notifications based on the channel the messagewas received from as well as other message information. For example, auser may select one alert tone for e-mails received from a personalaccount and a different alert tone for e-mails received from a workaccount.

In addition to sound alerts, it is possible to provide visualnotifications. For example a blinking light may be used to notify a userof a new message. Further, the notification may be displayed on thedisplay as a pop-up or banner or other similar graphical representation.The pop-up or banner may display a portion of the text of the messageand/or other relevant information.

As depicted in FIG. 1, a notification 110 for a received message may bedisplayed on the mobile device 102. The notification 110 is depicted asa banner displayed at the top of the display 104. When displaying such abanner notification, the banner may be displayed overtop of thecurrently displayed user interface. Alternatively, the user interfacemay be displaced downward, or the size of the user interface reduced toallow the banner notification 110 to be displayed without obstructingother visual components of the display. As depicted in FIG. 1, a homescreen user interface 126 is displaced downwards to allow thenotification to be displayed above the home screen. It will beappreciated that a banner type notification may be presented at otherlocations such as the bottom of the display. Further, the notificationmay be displayed as a pop-up which can be overlaid over the current userinterface.

The notification 110 may comprise a message section 112 that displaysinformation associated with the received message associated with thenotification. The message section 112 may display an icon or graphic 114associated with a sender of the message or associated with the type ofmessage, as well as a name 116 associated with the sender of themessage. The name of the sender may be displayed based on contactinformation of the sender stored in the mobile device. Additionally, thenotification may display text 118 associated with the message. Forexample, if the notification is for an e-mail, the text 118 may be thesubject line of the e-mail and/or a body of the e-mail message.

In addition to the message section 112, the notification 110 may includea direct action area 120 associated with performing a direct action. Thedirection action area 120 may vary depend upon the notification, or themessage channel associated with the notification. For example, if themessage associated with the notification is a text based messagingapplication, the direct action may be associated with replying to thereceived message. The direct action area may include a text box area 122for inputting reply text as well as a reply button 124 for sending thereply. It is contemplated that the reply button may be omitted orreplaced with another button. If the reply button 124 is not presented,than the reply text may be sent when the user presses enter, or takes asimilar action.

The notification 110 allows a notification for a message to be displayedalong with an associated action that can be performed directly from thenotification. When a message is received on the mobile device, anotification providing a direct action can be displayed on the deviceand as described further below, the message notification may be passedto a second device computing device, such as a tablet or desktopcomputer or laptop and displayed on the secondary screen.

FIG. 2 depicts the process for generating message notifications at acomputing device for messages received at a mobile device. The system200 comprises a mobile device 102 and a second computer device 206. Themobile device 102 can receive messages and provide notifications on thedisplay 104. The mobile device 102 can connect to a second computer 206,depicted as an all-in-one computer although other types of computingdevices are contemplated, and use the display 208 of the second computerto present a notification of the message received on the mobile device102.

When the mobile device 102 is in proximity to the second computer 206 aconnection may be established 210 between the two devices. Theconnection can be established using various communication techniques, tocreate local area networks (LAN) or personal area networks (PAN)including a USB connection, a Bluetooth connection, a Wi-Fi connection,a ZigBee connection or other wired or wireless connections. A message212 is received at the mobile device. The mobile device can generate anotification for the message as well as a direct action area asdescribed above with regard to FIG. 1. If the mobile device 102 hasestablished a connection to the second computer 206, a message indicatorcan be sent 214 from the mobile device to the second computer. Themessage indicator can be received at the second computer 216 and anotification representation 218 of the message indicator displayed tothe user. As depicted, the notification representation 218 may be asmall graphical icon or other unobtrusive indicator. As describedfurther below, a user of the second computing device 206 may interactwith the notification representation, which may for example expand thegraphical representation to allow the user to take a direct action fromthe notification representation.

FIGS. 3A and 3B depicts interacting with a notification representationof a message indicator received from a mobile device. As depicted insection (A) of FIG. 3, a message indicator has been received at thesecond computing device 206 from a mobile device 102 and a firstnotification representation 218 of the message indicator is displayed.Positioning information can be received from an input component, whichis depicted graphically as pointer 302 in FIG. 3.

The input component, graphically represented as pointer position 302,can be moved toward the graphical representation 218 to a location 306as depicted by dashed arrow 304 in section (B) of FIG. 3. Thepositioning information associated with the second pointer position 306is within a display area surrounding the notification representation,represented by dashed line 308. When the positioning information 306 iswithin the display area 308 a second notification representation 310 ofthe message indicator may be presented on the second display. Asdepicted, the second notification representation 310 may comprise amessage portion 312 that may display a graphical icon 314 indicative ofa sender of the message, or a message channel of the message. Themessage portion 312 may further comprise a name portion 316 displaying aname associated with the sender of the message as well as a message body318 displaying at least a portion of the message, such as the body of ane-mail or text message. The notification representation 310 alsoincludes a direct action area 320 that allows a user to take a directaction associated with the message, such as replying to the message. Thedirect action area 320 may comprise a text box 322 for inputting a replytext as well as an action button 324 for carrying out the direct action.Although depicted as a direct action button 324, a button may not benecessary for performing the direct action. For example, sending thereply to the message may occur when a user hits enter. Regardless of ifa direct action button is present or not, an input selection isreceived, such as pressing the direct action button or hitting enter,that causes the associated direct action to occur. Further, althoughonly a single direct action has been described, it is contemplated thata plurality of direct actions may be presented to the user. For examplethe input selection may also include the ability to share the messagewith one or more additional contacts. Alternatively, the direct actionmay also provide the ability to share a message with other contacts andnot reply to the message in the instance that notification is broadcasttype message. When multiple direct actions are presented, the inputselection may select which of the direct actions to perform.

As depicted in FIG. 3, a notification representation used to notify auser of a message received on the mobile device may be adjusted based oninput, such as mouse movement, from a user. As depicted, a firstnotification representation 218 may provide a small notification thatdoes not distract the user or interfere with work currently beingperformed. If the user wishes to determine more information associatedwith the displayed notification, they are able to move a pointer towardsthe notification representation, which will expand to displayinformation associated with the message as well as provide an option fortaking a direct action associated with the message of the notification.

FIGS. 4A to 4C depicts interacting with a notification representation ofa message indicator received from a mobile device. The interactiondepicted in FIG. 4 is similar to the interaction depicted in FIG. 3;however, it includes an additional intermediary notificationrepresentation of the message indicator. As depicted in section (A) ofFIG. 4, a message indicator has been received at the second computingdevice from a mobile device and a first notification representation 218of the message indicator is displayed. Positioning information can bereceived from an input component, which is depicted graphically aspointer 302. A user of the second device 206 can use an input componentto move the pointer 302 to a second position 402. If the positioninginformation associated with position 402 is within an intermediarydisplay area, depicted by dashed line 404, the notificationrepresentation of the message indicator can be changed to a secondnotification representation 410 of the message indicator. The seconddisplay notification 410 may comprise a message portion 312, asdescribed above, that may display a graphical icon 314 indicative of asender of the message, or a message channel of the message. The messageportion 312 may further comprise a name portion 316 displaying a nameassociated with the sender of the message as well as a message body 318displaying at least a portion of the message, such as the body of ane-mail or text message.

The user may continue moving the pointer toward the display notificationfrom position 402 to position 406. If the position 406 is within adirect action area depicted by dashed line 308, the notificationrepresentation 310 that includes a direct action area as described abovewith regard to FIG. 3.

As depicted in FIG. 4, a notification representation of a message mayinitially be small and unobtrusive so as not to distract the user. Ifthe user wishes to see more information associated with the message, thepointer can be moved toward the notification representation, which canchange to display additional information. If the user wishes to take adirect action associated with the message, they can continue moving thepointer toward the representation and once the pointer is within an areaassociated with displaying the direct action, the notificationrepresentation can be changed to include a direct action area.Accordingly, a user can control the amount of information about amessage received at the mobile device that is revealed on a seconddevice.

FIGS. 5A to 5C depicts interacting with a notification representation ofa message indicator received from a mobile device. As depicted, aninitial notification representation 218 is displayed and a user moves apointer from a first position 302 to a second position 502. The secondposition 502 is within the direct action notification area 308 and assuch, the notification representation 310 is presented on the display.The user may click 504 on the message portion of the notificationrepresentation 310. Clicking on the message portion causes anapplication associated with the message to be displayed 506. The messageapplication 506 may display the communication history of a conversation508 as well as provide an area for sending a new message to the otherparticipants in the conversation.

As described above, a message can be received at a mobile device, suchas a mobile phone, and a notification can be presented on the display ofa second device coupled to the mobile device. The amount of informationdisplayed for the notification on the mobile device can be controlled bythe user.

FIGS. 6A to 6C depicts interacting with a notification representation ofa message indicator received from a mobile device. The second computingdevice of FIG. 6 is depicted as a tablet type device 602 that includes atouch sensitive display 604 as the input component. A message indicatorcan be received at the tablet 602 and a notification representation 618presented to the user. As described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to5, different notification representation 618, 610 can be displayed. Theuser may initiate a gesture by touching the screen at a first location606; the touch-based gesture may comprise dragging or swiping towards asecond location 608. The gesture 612 may cause the notificationrepresentation 618 to expand and display a more detailed notificationrepresentation of the message, possibly including a direct action area.The gesture 612 may be compared to display criteria, which may include adirection of the gesture, the end location of the gesture, display timethreshold, and/or the speed of the gesture in determining if thenotification representation should be changed. If the swipe gesture 612causes the notification representation 610 to be displayed including adirect action area, ending the gesture by lifting the figure at position608 may cause the focus to switch to input box 622 allowing a user toinput text once the gesture is completed.

FIG. 7 depicts interacting with a notification representation of amessage indicator received from a mobile device. The depictedinteraction is similar to that described above with regard to FIG. 6. Amessage indicator is received and initially displayed. A gesture 612starting at a first position 606 and ending at a second locationposition 608 causes a notification representation 610 to be presented.In contrast to FIG. 6, in which it is assumed that the user lifts theirfinger at location 608, FIG. 7 depicts a further swipe gesture startingat the location 608 and ending at location 702. The gesture 704 may beconsidered as the reverse of gesture 612 and causes the notificationrepresentation to disappear.

In addition to using a gesture or other input to cause a displayednotification representation to disappear, it is possible for a displayrepresentation to disappear after a period of time has passed and nogesture or input has been received. Additionally or alternatively, adisplayed notification may require user interaction in order to not bedisplayed. For example, a notification representation of a missedtelephone call may be displayed as a ‘sticky’ notification which remainsuntil a user interacts with it. Whether or not a notificationrepresentation should be displayed until an interaction has occurred maybe determined based on the type of message, properties of the messagesuch as a priority level as well as user settings. As a further example,a notification representation of a regular email message may bedisplayed for a set period of time after which it disappears if nointeraction is received. A notification representation of a highpriority email message may be displayed until a user expressly interactswith the display representation.

FIGS. 8A to 8C depicts interacting with a notification representation ofa message indicator received from a mobile device. The interactiondepicted in FIG. 8 does not rely upon a swipe gesture. Rather when aninitial notification representation of the message indicator ispresented 618, the user may tap 802 on the notification representation,causing another notification representation 610, including message anddirect action portions to be presented. Once presented, the focus may beplaced on the text input area 622, and a virtual keyboard 804 displayedon screen allowing the user to enter text into the reply area.

FIGS. 9A to 9C depicts interacting with a notification representation ofa message indicator received from a mobile device. The above descriptionhas described using an input component for controlling the notificationrepresentations associated with a message. The input component may alsobe provided by the mobile device 102 itself. The mobile device mayinclude one or more sensors for determining its orientation andmovement. Each of the different notification representations 218, 310,410 may be associated with a range of positions of the mobile device.

As depicted, the mobile device 102 may be rotated from a horizontalposition 902 to different positions. When a notification is presented onthe display, the notification representation to present may bedetermined based on the position of the mobile device. As depicted ifthe mobile device 102 is positioned between a horizontal position and asecond angular position 904 the notification representation 218, whichdisplays a small graphical icon, can be displayed. As the mobile deviceis rotated between the second angular position 904 and a third angularposition 906, a second notification representation 410 that presents atleast a portion of the associated message is displayed. If the mobiledevice continues to be rotated past the third angular position 908 to afourth angular position 908, the notification representation 310 may bepresented on the display that includes at least a portion of the messageas well as a direct action area allowing a user to carry out a directaction associated with the message. It will be appreciated that theparticular angles defining the angular positions 902, 904, 906, 908 mayvary and may be set by the user of the mobile device.

The above has described displaying notifications received at a mobiledevice on a display of a second computing device that is communicativelycoupled to the mobile device. The notification may have variousnotification representations, including a notification representationthat includes a direct action area. By allowing the user to control,through an input component, which of the notification representationsare presented the presentation of the notifications may be improved.

As described further below, in addition to controlling when the displayrepresentation that includes a direct action area is displayed, it maybe desirable to control which of the messages are notified to the user.For example, regardless of the notification representation used for thenotification on the second device, a message notification received fromthe mobile device may be processed to determine if it should bedisplayed based on the current computing context. The current computingcontext may include various factors, such as what applications arerunning, what applications are currently displayed, networks thecomputing device is connected to as well as other factors such aspreference settings.

FIG. 10 depicts processing notifications received from a mobile devicefor display. As depicted in FIG. 10, a message 1002 is received for anaccount, depicted as being a work e-mail account 1004, on the mobiledevice 102. As described above, the mobile device 102 may send a messageindicator 1006 to a second computing device 206. The second computingdevice 206 is running an e-mail program 1008 for the work account.Accordingly the message that was received at the mobile device is alsoreceived at the second computing device and displayed 1010.

When the message indicator 1006 is received at the computing device 206the computing device processes the message indicator based on thecomputing context. In FIG. 10, it is contemplated that the computingcontext includes that the computing device is running an e-mail programfor an e-mail account, and the user has set preferences indicating thatnotifications should not be presented if the message is associated withan e-mail account displayed in a currently running e-mail application.When the message indicator 1006 is received, it is processed and it isdetermined that the message indicator is associated with a message forthe work e-mail account that is displayed by the e-mail application1006. Accordingly, the received message indicator is not presented tothe user.

FIG. 11 depicts processing notifications received from a mobile devicefor display. The depiction in FIG. 11 is similar to that of FIG. 10;however, a notification representation of the message indicator ispresented to the user. A message 1102 is received at the mobile device102 for a personal e-mail account 1104. The mobile device 102 sends amessage indictor 1106 to a second computing device 206 that iscommunicatively coupled with the mobile device 102. The messageindicator 1106 is processed at the computing device 206, whichdetermines that the message indicator is associated with a message foran account that is not associated with the work e-mail program 1006.Accordingly, the processing determines that a notificationrepresentation for the message should be presented to the user andpresents the notification representation accordingly 1108. Thenotification representation may be displayed and controlled inaccordance with the description of the position based actionnotification described above. Additionally or alternatively, thenotification may be a static notification representation.

As described above with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, when a messageindicator is received that is associated with an account of anapplication currently running on the second device 206, a notificationrepresentation of the message indicator is not presented on the display.If however, the message indicator is not associated with an account of arunning application, the notification representation may be presented tothe user on the display.

FIGS. 12 and 13 further depict processing message indicators receivedfrom a mobile device for display. In FIGS. 11 and 12 a notification fora received SMS message is not displayed when the second computer isconnected to a work domain, while a notification for a received SMSmessage is displayed when the second computing device is not connectedto the work domain. As such, the context based display of notificationscan allow notifications associated with personal accounts to only bedisplayed when not at work.

As depicted in FIG. 12, a message 1202 is received for a personal SMSaccount 1204. The mobile device 102 sends the message indicator 1206 tothe second computing device 206 which receives the message indicator andprocesses it. The second computing device 206 is connected to a workdomain 1208, and as such, a notification representation of the receivedmessage indicator for the personal SMS message is not presented on thedisplay 1210. The determination that the second computing device 206 isconnected to the work domain may be determined based upon networkcharacteristics such as Internet Protocol (IP) address, domainregistration, logon credentials, and access network or gateway/proxyconfiguration.

In contrast to FIG. 12, the second computing device 206 of FIG. 13 isconnected to a home network 1302. As such, when the message indicator1206 for the personal SMS message is received, notificationrepresentation of the received message indicator 1302 is presented tothe user.

As described above with regard to FIGS. 10-13, it is possible to controlwhich notifications are displayed on a second computing device based ona current operating context. Rules or preferences may be specified innotification display settings that specify which message notificationsshould be displayed based on particular operating contexts. Theoperating context may specify one or more criteria such as whatapplications are running, currently visible applications, current time,a time of day, a day of the week, a current location of the portabledevice or computing device, as well as networks connected to theportable device or computing device.

Although described above as determining what notifications should bedisplayed on a second device, it is contemplated that the samecontext-based processing may be used in determining what notificationsshould be displayed in the mobile device.

The message indicator sent from the mobile device to the secondcomputing device may comprise various characteristics depending upon thetype of message. For example, the characteristics of the messageindicators may include information on a sender and receiver of themessage, a message subject, a message body, a messaging application, anda time the message was sent and/or received.

FIG. 14 depicts processing notifications received at a mobile device. Asdescribed above with regard to FIG. 1, a notification for a receivedmessage may be displayed on the mobile device 102. The notification mayinclude a direct action area as described above. Further, the display ofthe notification may be based on position information related to agesture performed on the device. Additionally, the presentation of thedifferent notification representations can be controlled based on acurrent operating context of the mobile device.

As shown in FIG. 14(A) When a message is received at a mobile device102, the operating context 1402 the device is determined. The operatingcontext 1402 may be specified by one or more of the applicationscurrently running, messaging application or communication channel. Thedetermined operating context is used to determine notification displaysettings that specify, among other settings, whether a notificationrepresentation should be presented to the user or suppressed. When amessage is received, if it is determined that a notificationrepresentation should be presented based on the operating context, afirst notification representation 1404 of the message may be displayed.The first notification representation 1404 may present messageinformation 1406, such as a name of the sender and a portion of themessage text, in a banner of the user interface. As shown in FIG. 14(B)when the first notification representation 1404 is displayed a user mayperform a gesture 1410, for example by swiping one or more fingers froma first location 1412 to a second location 1414 to form the gesture. Thegesture information may satisfy gesture criteria associated with asecond notification representation of the message. If the information ofthe gesture 1410 does satisfy an associated display criteria, forexample the swipe was in the correct general direction, was long enoughand/or was fast enough, the second notification representation 1416 mayinclude the message information 1406 displayed as the first notificationrepresentation as well as a direct action area 1408 that allows a userto perform an action associated with the message without requiring theuser to execute the messaging application. The direct action area 1408is depicted as a text input box and a direct action button, although asdescribed above, the direct action button is not required as other inputselections may cause the action to be performed. Once the secondnotification representation 1416 is displayed, if the user lifts theirfinger from the location 1414, the focus may be switched to the textinput box of the direct action area 1408 and a keyboard 1418 as shown inFIG. 14C can be displayed to allow the user to input text associatedwith the direct action of the notification representation.

FIG. 15 depicts processing notifications received at a mobile device.The notification processing of FIG. 15 is similar to that of FIG. 14;however, instead of a swipe based gesture displaying a secondnotification representation, the gesture is a tap gesture 1502 as shownin FIG. 15(A). When the first notification representation 1404 of themessage is displayed, the user may tap 1502 the representation, whichcauses the second notification representation, including the directaction area to be displayed. When the direct action area 1408 isdisplayed, the focus may be set to the text input box and a keyboard1418 displayed as shown in FIG. 15(B).

FIG. 16 depicts displaying a notification representation based on anoperating context of a mobile device. The mobile device 102 includes adisplay 104 that presents a user interface 126 to the user. Messages maybe presented to the user in various notification representations. Thedisplay representation may be based on a current operating context ofthe mobile device. The operating context may include information onwhich applications are currently executing, which applications arecurrently visible, a current time, network connection information aswell as location information. The messages may include messages sent tothe mobile device such as e-mails, SMS messages, an instant messagingapplication, or push-based messages such as sports scores, news alerts,stock prices, etc. Additionally, the messages may be generated by themobile device 102. An application may generate a message in order tonotify the user about an event. For example, a message may be generatedwhen the user misses a telephone call, or video call.

A notification representation 1602 is presented to the user informingthe user of a missed call. The notification representation 1602 may bepresented based on the operating context of the mobile device. Forexample, if the mobile device is at a location associated with work, thenotification may not be presented to the user, assuming that the missedcall was on a personal line. If display settings associated with thecurrent operating context indicate that the notification representation1602 should be displayed, it is presented to the user as depicted inFIG. 16. The notification representation 1602 may comprise a messageportion 1604 that displays message related information such as an image1606 associated with the message or caller, a name 1608 of a sender ofthe message or caller and message details 1610 such as message text oran indication of the missed call. The notification representation 1602may further comprise a direct action area 1612 that presents the userwith actions that can be performed directly from the notificationrepresentation. The particular direct actions may be based on the typeof the message. For example, if the message is an e-mail, the directaction may present a text box for replying to the e-mail. In the case ofa missed phone call, the direct action area 1612 may present the userwith actions for returning the call 1616 and/or calling a voice mailnumber 1618. The direct action area 1612 may be initially presented withthe message portion 1604, or alternatively may be presented to the userbased on a gesture or other input information as described in relationto FIGS. 14 and 15.

FIG. 17 depicts a system for generating notification representations ofmessage indicators received by a mobile device. The system 1700comprises a mobile device 206 which may be, for example a cellularphone, smartphone, or tablet and a second computing device 206, whichmay be a tablet, desktop computer, all-in-one computer as depicted or alaptop computer. The second computing device 206 is generally consideredto be a computing device having a larger display than the mobile device102.

The mobile device 102 comprises a display screen 1712, which may includea touch screen. The mobile device 102 comprises a processor 1714 forexecuting instructions that are stored in memory 1716. The mobile device102 may further comprise non-volatile storage 1718. The instructionsstored in memory 1716, when executed by the processor configure themobile device 102 to provide secondary device messaging functionality1720, messaging notification functionality 1722 as well as one or moremessaging applications 1724. The secondary messaging functionality 1720establishes a connection with the secondary computing device in order tosend message indicators for messages received at the mobile device. Themessaging notification functionality 1722 provides notifications forreceived message and may include functionality for determining anoperating context and displaying notifications based on the context. Thenotification functionality may allow a user to control an amount ofinformation displayed by the notification. The messaging applications1724 receive messages from respective notification channels, such ase-mail, SMS and MMS messages, IN messages, push notification messages orother messaging applications.

The mobile device further comprises an input/output (I/O) component 1726for connecting one or more components capable of providing input to thedevice or producing output. The mobile device 102 further comprises oneor more sensors 1728 as well as one or more radios 1730 for establishingwireless communication with other computing devices.

The second computing device 206 comprises a display screen 1732, whichmay include a touch screen. The display 1732 of the second computingdevice is generally contemplated to be larger than the display of themobile device 102. The second computing device 206 comprises a processor1734 for executing instructions that are stored in a memory 1736. Thesecond computing device 206 may further comprise non-volatile storage1748. The instructions stored in memory 1736, when executed by theprocessor configure the second computing device 102 to provide mobiledevice messaging functionality 1740 as well as message notificationgeneration functionality 1742. The mobile device messaging functionality1740 establishes a connection with the secondary device messagingfunctionality 1720 of the mobile device in order to receive messageindicators for messages received at the mobile device. The messagenotification generation functionality 1742 may comprises variousfunctionality for generating notifications as described here. Thefunctionality may comprise positioning based action notificationfunctionality 1744. The position based action notification functionality1744 allows a notification representation of a message that has a directaction area for carrying out a direct action associated with themessage, to be progressively displayed based on positioning informationof an input component. The message notification generation functionality1742 may further comprise context based notification functionality forgenerating a notification representation for a message based on acurrent operating context of the computing device.

The second computing device further comprises an input/output (I/O)component 1748 for connecting one or more components capable ofproviding input to the computing device or producing output. The secondcomputing device 206 further comprises one or more sensors 1750 as wellas one or more radios 1752 for establishing wireless communication withother computing devices.

FIG. 18 depicts a method for generating message notifications at acomputing device. The method 1800 receives at the computing device areceived message indicator from a mobile device (1802). The receivedmessage indicator is associated with a message received by the mobiledevice. The received message indicator may be sent from the portablecomputing device to the computing device over a communication channelestablished between the two devices. The communication channel may beestablished over a wired or wireless channel, such as Ethernet,Universal Serial Bus (USB), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee or othercommunication technologies. Once the received message indicator isreceived at the computing device a first notification representation ofthe received message indicator is generated at the computing device(1804), and positioning information from an input component isdetermined (1806). Input component may be a mouse or pointing deviceconnected to the computing device, a touch screen input as well assensors of the mobile device. A second notification representation isgenerated comprising at least a portion of the message received at themobile device and an action area for performing a direct action inresponse to the received message when the determined positioninginformation satisfies a display criteria associated with the secondnotification representation (1808).

FIG. 19 depicts a further method for generating message notifications ata computing device. The method 1900 receives at the computing device amessage indicator from a mobile device (1902). The message indicator isassociated with a message received by the mobile device. The methoddetermines a current operating context of the computing device (1904)and generates at the computing device a notification representation ofthe message indicator in accordance with notification display settingsassociated with the determined current operating context (1906). Thenotification display settings associated with the determined operatingcontext can provide rules for determining how a received messagenotification should be displayed including whether it should be a blankdisplay that does not provide a visual notification to the user.

FIG. 20 depicts a further method for generating message notifications ona mobile device based upon an operating context. The method 2000 mayreceive a message indicator at the mobile device, which may be for amessage received at the mobile device or generated at the mobile device.When the message indicator is received, the method determines anoperating context of the mobile device (2002). The operating context mayindicate a current operating state of the mobile device such as whichapplications are running, which applications are displayed among othersettings or characteristics of the mobile device. A first notificationrepresentation of the message is generated in accordance withnotification display settings associated with the current operatingcontext (2004), and gesture information is determined (2006). When thedetermined gesture information satisfies a display criteria, a secondnotification representation of the message including a direct actionarea is generated (2008).

The above has described various methods for displaying notificationrepresentations on computing devices. Although displaying a singledisplay representation is described above, it is possible to displaymultiple notifications at the same time. If multiple displayrepresentations are to be displayed at the same time, they may bedisplayed one above the other. Additionally or alternatively, if anumber of notification representations are to be displayed, a number,for example two, may be displayed and the display changed to display theadditional notification representations after a short period of time.Further, if a notification representation is to be displayed thatrequires user interaction in order to dismiss, it may be continuallydisplayed and additional notification representations displayed belowit.

Although certain methods, apparatus, computer readable memory, andarticles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope ofcoverage of this disclosure is not limited thereto. To the contrary,this disclosure covers all methods, apparatus, computer readable memory,and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of theappended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

Although the following discloses example methods, system and apparatusincluding, among other components, software executed on hardware, itshould be noted that such methods, system and apparatus are merelyillustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, itis contemplated that any or all of these hardware and softwarecomponents could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively insoftware, exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Accordingly, while the following describesexample methods and apparatus, persons having ordinary skill in the artwill readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the only wayto implement such methods, system and apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating message notifications ata mobile device, the method comprising: determining, by a notificationfunctionality at the mobile device a current operating context of themobile device; receiving a message at the mobile device, wherein themessage is associated with an application of the mobile device;generating, by the notification functionality, on a display of themobile device, a first notification representation for the message inaccordance with one or more notification display settings associatedwith the determined current operating context; determining gestureinformation from a touch input component while the first notificationrepresentation is displayed; generating, in response to the determinedgesture information, on the display of the mobile device, a secondnotification representation comprising at least a portion of the messageand an action area for performing a direct action associated with themessage; suppressing, by the notification functionality, the firstnotification representation as a result of determining that the currentoperating context comprises displaying the application in theforeground; and presenting, by the notification functionality, the firstnotification representation as a result of determining that the currentoperating context does not comprise displaying in the applicationmessages associated with the application; wherein the notificationfunctionality comprises software which provides notifications formultiple applications on the mobile device; wherein the one or morenotification display settings associated with the current operatingcontext specify one or more characteristics of the message and theassociated operating context characteristic for use in generating atleast one of the first notification representation or the secondnotification representation, the one or more characteristics of themessage comprising one or more of a sender of the message, a receiver ofthe message, a subject of the message, or a body of the message.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein generating the second notificationrepresentation is performed when the determined gesture informationsatisfies a display criterion associated with the second notificationrepresentation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a currentoperating context comprises determining one or more of: runningapplications; applications displayed on the mobile device; or acommunication channel associated with the message and a communicationchannel associated with an application displayed on the mobile device.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating context characteristicfor use in generating the at least one of the first notificationrepresentation or the second notification representation comprises oneor more of: visibility of the at least one of the first notificationrepresentation or the second notification representation;characteristics of the message to include in the at least one of thefirst notification representation or the second notificationrepresentation; or location of the at least one of the firstnotification representation or the second notification representation.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the direct action comprises one ormore of: replying to the message; sharing the message with one or morecontacts; marking the message as read; or deleting the message.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising sending text received in theaction area to an originator of the message.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising forwarding the message to one or more contacts inresponse to an action performed in the action area.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the message provides an indication of a missed call,and wherein the action area presents a direct action for returning themissed call.
 9. A mobile device comprising: a processor for executinginstructions; and a memory coupled to the processor storinginstructions, which when executed by the processor configure the mobiledevice to: determine, by a notification functionality at the mobiledevice a current operating context of the mobile device; receive amessage at the mobile device, wherein the message is associated with anapplication of the mobile device; generate by the notificationfunctionality on a display of the mobile device, a first notificationrepresentation for the message in accordance with one or morenotification display settings associated with the determined currentoperating context; determine gesture information from a touch inputcomponent while the first notification representation is displayed;generate, in response to the determined gesture information, on thedisplay of the mobile device, a second notification representationcomprising at least a portion of the message and an action area forperforming a direct action associated with the message; suppress, by thenotification functionality, the first notification representation whenthe current operating context comprises displaying the application inthe foreground; and present, by the notification functionality, thefirst notification representation when the current operating contextdoes not comprise displaying in the application messages associated withthe application; wherein the notification functionality comprisessoftware which provides-notifications for multiple applications on themobile devices; wherein the one or more notification display settingsassociated with the current operating context specify one or morecharacteristics of the message and the associated operating contextcharacteristic for use in generating at least one of the firstnotification representation or the second notification representation,the one or more characteristics of the message comprising one or more ofa sender of the message, a receiver of the message, a subject of themessage, or a body of the message.
 10. The mobile device of claim 9,wherein generating the second notification representation is performedwhen the determined gesture information satisfies a display criterionassociated with the second notification representation.
 11. The mobiledevice of claim 9, wherein determining a current operating contextcomprises determining one or more of: running applications; applicationsdisplayed on the mobile device; or a communication channel associatedwith the message and a communication channel associated with anapplication displayed on the mobile device.
 12. The mobile device ofclaim 9, wherein the operating context characteristic for use ingenerating the at least one of the first notification representation orthe second notification representation comprises one or more of:visibility of the at least one of the first notification representationor the second notification representation; characteristics of themessage to include in the at least one of the first notificationrepresentation or the second notification representation; or location ofthe at least one of the first notification representation or the secondnotification representation.
 13. The mobile device of claim 9, whereinthe direct action comprises one or more of: replying to the message;sharing the message with one or more contacts; marking the message asread; or deleting the message.
 14. The mobile device of claim 9, whereinthe message provides an indication of a missed call, and wherein theaction area presents a direct action for returning the missed call. 15.A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereonexecutable code for execution by a processor of a mobile device, theexecutable code comprising instructions for: determining, by anotification functionality at the mobile device a current operatingcontext of the mobile device; receiving a message at the mobile device,wherein the message is associated with an application of the mobiledevice; generating by the notification functionality on a display of themobile device, a first notification representation for the message inaccordance with one or more notification display settings associatedwith the determined current operating context; determining gestureinformation from a touch input component while the first notificationrepresentation is displayed; generating, in response to the determinedgesture information, on the display of the mobile device, a secondnotification representation comprising at least a portion of the messageand an action area for performing a direct action associated with themessage; suppressing, by the notification functionality, the firstnotification representation when the current operating context comprisesdisplaying the application in the foreground; and presenting, by thenotification functionality, the first notification representation whenthe current operating context does not comprise displaying in theapplication messages associated with the application; wherein thenotification functionality comprises software whichprovides-notifications for multiple applications on the mobile devices;wherein the one or more notification display settings associated withthe current operating context specify one or more characteristics of themessage and the associated operating context characteristic for use ingenerating at least one of the first notification representation or thesecond notification representation, the one or more characteristics ofthe message comprising one or more of a sender of the message, areceiver of the message, a subject of the message, or a body of themessage.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15,wherein generating the second notification representation is performedwhen the determined gesture information satisfies a display criterionassociated with the second notification representation.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein determininga current operating context comprises determining one or more of:running applications; applications displayed on the mobile device; or acommunication channel associated with the message and a communicationchannel associated with an application displayed on the mobile device.18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperating context characteristic for use in generating the at least oneof the first notification representation or the second notificationrepresentation comprises one or more of: visibility of the at least oneof the first notification representation or the second notificationrepresentation; characteristics of the message to include in the atleast one of the first notification representation or the secondnotification representation; or location of the at least one of thefirst notification representation or the second notificationrepresentation.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim15, wherein the direct action comprises one or more of: replying to themessage; sharing the message with one or more contacts; marking themessage as read; or deleting the message.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the message provides anindication of a missed call, and wherein the action area presents adirect action for returning the missed call.